Canon 350d or Nikond50/D70s

King Eric

Hey guys, I asked a similar question a wee while ago, I was considering either the Olympus e500 or the canon 350d. Going on the advice I received from youguys, I would now pick the 350d but someone also suggested I look at the Nikon D50 and D70s

I was wondering if people could now give me any advice/opinions to help me now choose between the canon 350d the Nikon D50and the D70s. As a far as I can make out the advantages/disadvantages of each are as follows.

The d70s has the best kit lens by far. It is also the most comfortable to hold. the 2 nikons feel much more solid as well. The350d feels so small in my hand its annoying and I cant get a proper comfortable strong grip on it

The Nikons seem to have a slightly better battery life but the canon does have a battery grip available. There are third party battery grips available for the D70s and D50 but apparently there a bit crap and you cant half press the shutter etc..

The Canon has a 8MP sensor and the Nikons have a 6.1MP

The d70s has a pretty cool wireless remote off camera flash setup AFAIK all you need is a Nikon flash that’s approx €300 (wont be getting that for a while but its nice to know its there)

The canon is 300 euro cheaper than the D70s, this is money I could spend on a battery grip and a 70-300mm or 55-200mm lens. But I’m kinda thinkin the camera is the most important part of the equation and I should get that right now and buy lens etc later, rather than wanting to upgrade the camera
But is it worth spending the extra 300 on the Nikon?


The d50 is 500 euro cheaper than the d70s but for just an extra 200 I think il be getting a faster/better camera with the Canon 350d. the d50 also takes sd cards which im not all that keen on.

Finally are Canon and Nikon lenses more or less the same quality and price for the equivalent lenses as you move up the ladder and buy better lenses?


Thanks a mil guys

Jr.

440Hz

I can't say much about the Nikon as I have only played with one once. However I have just bought a 350D with the kit lens and the EF-S 17-88 USM lens. I have only had it since Saturday but so far I adore it. I got the kit lens with it cos it was only €50 more expensive than the body on its own. The kit lens is disappointing but if you are saving the 300 on the NIkon I would advice picking a better Canon lens. The difference between the kit lens and the 17-85 is worth spending the extra on, providing you get a good deal.

Best of luck with your choice.

Flipflip

i have the D50, and its also an amzing camera.

SD cards are fine, they work perfectly, no probs whatsoever.

There wouldnt be much in the difference of a canon and nikon lens really.

And you can get Sigma for both.

Subliminal

I just got the Nikon D50, think its fantastic, not a problem with it.
I posted a day after i got the camera, i still stand by the post!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054885081

Just in case it may help:)

melekalikimaka

d50 man also, the diff between the the d70 and d50 aren't huge, from what i read the ccd is slight better on the d50 even

elderlemon

Firstly don't compare kit lens. You are buying into a camera system and not just the body and a cheap kit lens.

I am an ex-nikon man. recently switched over to the 350 so might be a little biased. I didn't like the size of the 350 at first - way too small for me. So I went into Jessops and asked them to show me it with the grip and boy what a difference. Note that with the grip you get longer battery plus the controls for portrait mode.

All 3 of these cameras are good. Personally I think the 70 and 350 are very close in terms of features and quality but I do like the colours on the 350 a little more.

€300 is a very large price difference for cameras that are essentially the same. I chose the 350 because of the slightly better image quality and a great lens range. I'm building up my lens collection and will probably replece the body over and over again while keeping the glass.

DotOrg

King Eric wrote:

But I’m kinda thinkin the camera is the most important part of the equation and I should get that right now and buy lens etc later, rather than wanting to upgrade the camera

their are people with old Canon 30D's or 300D's that with a good lens will take a picture just as good as anything you can do with the latest model

the camera is the least important part of the equation
1) is you, the photographer, crap photographer = crap pictures
2) light. the light you are capturing is crucial. if you don't understand light you'll never be a great photographer
3) the lens, this is what shapes and collects the all important light. a good lens lasts yearsm, pros use lenses that are years old. good glass is crucial
4) the camera is just a box that collects the light, everything else is more important than the camera body.

King Eric

Still not decided which camera to get, kinda depends on what funds I can get together, i'll see in a couple of weeks.....

I originally had decided to get whatever camera i was getting in conns cameras in town because the after sales service seems really good. eg a loan camera when yours is being repaired

He also said that he has a machine instore for removing dry dust from inside the camera and that he would for the lifetime of the camera, as long as I bought it there, which would save me a lot of money and time in the long run.
How big of a problem is this and how often is it likey to happen?

like inside a year or 2 how much will it cost me, and is it possible to clean the camera yourself

Had a browse on the internet today 2 and found that i could get the camera much cheaper like a €300-€400 difference when you count lenses, cards and battery grip etc.

I was thinking it would be safer to buy from a shop in town, cos I can go back into them with the camera if somethng goes kaboom,or am I just old fashioned?

What sort of a comeback will I have if something goes wrong with the camera and Ive bought it from a shop on the internet? Will i have to deal with the shop or with the manufacturer?

(I appreciate that this will depend on the shop any recommendations)

Or is the best idea to buy the camera in town and then buy lenses battery grip memory cards online?

rymus

get the 350D and spend the savings on some goodies.

halenger

King Eric wrote:

Or is the best idea to buy the camera in town and then buy lenses battery grip memory cards online?

Almost the opposite. Lens prices in town are actually very good in some cases. Of the two lenses I've been looking at they're both cheaper in town than online....seriously... No I'm not joking. The lenses in question are the Nikkor 70-300 f/4-5.6 G and the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 -- Conns have them for 150 and 335 respectively. Berminghams have a cheaper price on the 50mm but are quoting a lead time of weeks, Conns are hoping to have them in on Thursday.

Anyway, I went the D50 route. I couldn't be happier and it was the cheapest option really (720 with kit lens and 1GB card, a little cheaper from ac-foto.de but you'll have to do a rebate and pick your own SD card). Another option would be a second hand D70 perhaps. There was new firmware brought out around the time the D70s was released that updated the D70 a bit-bringing some things closer to the D70s way of things.

You'll be happy with any of them to be fair. They're all excellent cameras.

EireRoadUser

If you buy a nikkon you'll wonder about canon
If you buy a canon you'll wonder about nikkon

If you buy either you'll be happy with it.
I have a 350d myself and have learned a lot by using it.

andy1249

Halenger , you are clearly on some mind bending drugs , I spent xmas searching town for a lens that my grilfriend could get me for a present , I was armed with a list of online prices , I have both a film Nikon and a canon Dslr , and in no case was there a lens in a shop in the city at less than 2 x the online price , I was in gunns , ( at least 2 x but by no means the worst ,) in the camera center which was 4 x the online price and very arrogant about it , in Conns I dealt with a teenage wanker who tried to tell me online lenses were not the same quality , and various other places not nearly as pro as the ones above ( some place in lucan near hills ind est , who wanted about 3x the online price for a canon 28 - 100 lens ) anyway , I had to go to Phoenix in January for work , so opted to buy in the states instead , in the Tempe camera center in phoenix , got the above lens for 220 dollars , they wanted at least 450 euros here ,
Incidentally , you can buy the canon EOS 5D there for 3200 dollars , in the camera center on grafton street it is 3899 euros , converting dollars to euros , thats 2400 euros in Phoenix , a whopping 1499 in the difference , its 500 euros to fly to phoenix return , even paying the 21% vat you still get a stateside holiday and are 500 dollars or so better off . go figure !!

EireRoadUser

America is the leading industrial country on this planet of course there products are cheaper ,there steaks are cheaper too.

But i'd rather have a home steak than wait on long distance service

ShayHT

Thought it was just me! i had a similar sounding experience with them too a few years back..... so all my biz since has gone to Conns Cameras - F80 & D70 (plus 7dayshop too of course)!

andy1249 wrote:

in the camera center which was 4 x the online price and very arrogant about it

Valentia

Buying online is the ONLY option unless you have money to burn, Conn's prices are crazy.

ShayHT

I got the cameras at average prices. Lens and accessories always online

Valentia wrote:

Buying online is the ONLY option unless you have money to burn, Conn's prices are crazy.

halenger

I did say Europe. I'm not in the States nor will I be any time soon, nor will I import (add 21% and customs duty).

I also said I only looked at two lenses in particular. Lets do a quick comparrison so.

First lens: Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6 AF G
AC-Foto: 177.00 Euro (ex delivery)
Jessops (UK): £119.99 - 175.45 Euro (xe.com)
Amazon: £313?? They have purelygadets listed as £145.99 and pixmania as £151, not even going to convert them.
Conns: 150.00 Euro (marked down I'll admit, but that's the price and that's new).

Second lens: Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF
AC-Foto: 323.00 Euro (ex delivery)
Jessops (UK): £259.99 - 378 Euro (xe.com) (out of stock)
Amazon: £204.12 - 298.45 Euro (xe.com) (ex delivery)
Conns: 335.00 Euro

I know full well that camera prices are a totally different story but a bit of research shows that Dublin lens prices (in those particular case at this particular moment) are reasonable.

A very rough and quick calculation on the 50mm f/1.4 from BH Photo (the USA warranty, because I don't spend my days in and around New York should something go wrong) puts it at roughly 300 dollars with the cheapest shipping. Converted to Euro, adding 21% VAT and adding 6% customs (not sure on this, just a rough guess from memory) puts it at 325 Euro.

Am I missing something? I've been looking around the usual places for a week or two now and those are my results.

Oh and Berminghams Cameras sell the 50mm for 329 but they said it would be a few weeks to get stock, Conns are hoping for stock today - I'll find out later.


Edit: I'd imagine Amazon have it confused with the ED version that they also sell, I meant to include that (about the 70-300).

ShayHT

Yeah, all depends on what you're looking for.

I got a Sigma 170-500mm f5-6.3 APO for less than €600 with 7dayshop, jessops online it was €900, and around Dublin anything from €1,000 to €1,500.....

You really have to shop around, and then shop around some more!!

halenger

ShayHT wrote:

You really have to shop around, and then shop around some more!!

Yup, that's definately the lesson. It's just important to check locally too. Sometimes they're not all bad.

I'll be the first to admit I wasn't going to buy my camera (D50) locally. None of them were willing to budge. Dixons laughably had "our prices can't be beaten" as the tag on the stand the D50 was on....as it was priced 100 euro dearer than the rest of Dublin. The only way to match the Apple deal would've been to buy A-Stock from Berminghams and buy an SD card.

I hadn't expected the results above. I was looking at the ones around Europe and wondering why the hell I couldn't find significantly cheaper than the Dublin shops - not all now, just Berminghams and Conns.

Oh and I say Jessops (UK) because the shop they have here are under orders not to match their website. As far as I can gather from the Jessops site delivery is free for items over £100.

Apologies if this has become a bit of a thread hog. Perhaps it should be split off?

Valentia

I know a lot of people have reservations about buying on EBay but I got all my gear there when I bought my 10D a couple of years ago. I got the body from the States and the flash and lenses from Hong Kong. I paid duty on the camera but it was still way cheaper than anywhere in Europe. The lenses were marked a low values so the duty was small. I cant remember how much I saved but it was over €1,800.

What's this about cameras from the States not being the same? Of course they are. And if they weren't does that mean that they are better or worse? There is the warrenty issue but I felt it was a reasonable risk.

All you need to do when buying on EBay is use your head and don't go for something that is cheap without a thorough examination of the sellers' record.

The cost of camera gear in Dublin is rediculous. I do understand that rents etc. have a lot to do with it but I prefer to give what extra few bob I have to charity.

BendiBus

Bought a Metz flash in Halls on Talbot St for €79 on Saturday. It's $99 from BH in the states and £65 from the UK. Both before delivery. Halls was by far the cheapest.

Just backing up the advice to always shop around. It's not wise to assume buying online is always cheapest.